There are many wondrous, enigmatic and fascinating attractions on the Big Island of Hawaii, some better known than others, many out of the way and generally off the beaten track. Tour Guide Hawaii has produced an encyclopedic collection of the most up-to-date information, presented as short GPS-cued videos, in an app downloadable to iPhone and iPod Touch that covers the entire Big Island, highlighting the popular and the uncrowded, the famous and the secluded, the adventurous and the relaxing.

Nahuku, the Thurston Lava Tube, gives the visitor an opportunity for a close-at-hand inspection of the inner plumbing of a volcano. It also makes for an interesting and unique way to escape the noonday heat or afternoon shower briefly. Lava tubes form when the outer crust of a flowing river of lava begins to cool and crust over, but the lava continues to flow beneath it; when the flow has completely drained away, the lava tube is left behind.

Thurston lava tube is a remarkably large, well-preserved and accessible example of a lava tube-type cave. An easy, 0.3 mile trail (about a 15 minute hike) winds through lush fern forest alive with singing bird and buzzing insects, down into a collapse crater entering the lava tube and slipping about 300 feet through the well-lighted, floored cave, popping up through a skylight in the tube and returning to the parking lot. A very easy walk and certainly a “must see” for any visitor to the park.

Everett Maynard inside Thurston Lava Tube: Photo by Donald B MacGowan

When Lorrin Thurston, founder of the Honolulu Advertiser, found the cave in 1913, the roof reportedly was covered with stalactites—it is said that rapacious tourists removed every one in the intervening years.

[…] Crater Rim Drive circumnavigates Kilauea Caldera (as well as Halema’uma’u Crater, home of the Goddess Pele) in 11 intriguing miles. Although the drive can be made in less than 40 minutes, one is urged to schedule at least three hours to adequately cover the wonders and marvels along its path. Individual sites along Crater Rim Drive are described in detail elsewhere, but this incredible road, which serves as a great introduction to the Park, runs through and connects the Volcano House, the newly remodeled Kilauea Visitor’s Center, the Volcano Art Center, Sulfur Banks and Steaming Bluff, the informative and well-done Jagger Museum and Hawaii Volcano Observatory, numerous caldera overlook points including overlooks of Halema’uma’u Crater, Devastation Trail, Pu’u Pua’i, Kilauea Iki Crater which has perhaps the finest hiking trail in the Park trail and the justly famous Thurston Lava Tube. […]